Update

This is just an update about what's been going on around the place.

Are blogs dead? Not sure, but there was a short discussion about that on Facebook, and it made me think that maybe they are. I suspect they are being replaced with said FB, and Twitter, Instagram, etc. Instant gratification. Blogs took over from the old My Space, and now blogs, if not linked to some of the instant messaging apps, may not get as much attention. In my own case, this blog has been running for a number of years, and only has 14 followers. My Pinterest site has been up six months, maybe a bit longer, and I already have 92 followers. Yes, Pinterest is all about pictures, but in some respect, they are the same pictures you would probably want to share on a blog if it weren't so time-consuming. For those who use their blogs as a personal diary, like I do, then I guess it doesn't matter if no one else reads it but me. But it does make me pause, and wonder if it is worth my time, when maybe that time could be better spent on projects or painting.

Speaking of painting...which I haven't done much of lately because the garage got so hot (daytime temps got up to 113) I just couldn't work...I am fired back up to start a new series. It will run concurrently with the series I've  already been working on, Gypsies, which has one drawing, a finished painting, a painting still in progress (the one I had to set aside due to the heat), and many ideas for future paintings. The new series will be called Ghosts in the Ruins. Figures in decayed rooms. Lots of mould, peeling wallpaper, chipped paint, and plants reclaiming the space that used to be theirs. People looking lost, wondering what happened to the place that they knew, wondering why they are there again, and wondering if they can get back. Back to what? Back to a life before the decay? I want the painting to express a sense of bewilderment. A sense of "Why did we abandon this place, or let things get so bad?"

Since the new series will involve lots of texture in the paintings, I started thinking about how I would get that decayed, crumbling look. As I was sitting out on the deck the other day, it got a bit warm, so I peeled off the sweatshirt I was wearing, only to discover that a dryer sheet had been stuck inside. I looked at the dryer sheet, and thought, "Wow, what a great texture. Wonder if I could use these things in my paintings?" So I am going to experiment with them, glueing them down with matt medium then painting over them to see what kinds of surface textures I can get. And you know, it's always good when you can repurpose something rather than throw it away.

On my reading table is my Big Red Boxed Edition of Lord of the Rings. I hadn't read the book in over ten years, and wanted to go back to the source after having seen the Peter Jackson version so many times. It reinforces just how much the movie veered away from the book, and in some places abandoned it all together.

I have put up four tubs of tomato, pepper, basil soup base. They are now in my freezer, waiting for those cold winter evenings when hot soup tastes so good. I may have enough tomatoes left on the vine to make one more tub. I know I have enough peppers! The peppers went crazy this summer.

Lastly, a quick word about the horse we adopted in July from a kill yard in Washington. After a month and a half, she is finally out of quarantine and in her permeant turnout. She has been such a good girl, very level-headed...until the farrier showed up. She took one look at him and every alarm bell in her body went off. We managed to get her front hooves done, but it was pretty traumatic. She was literally shaking with fear and refusing to let him touch her. So, I have no idea what was done to put the fear of the world into her when it comes to farriers (she has never reacted to anyone like that before, not even the vet), but we will have to figure out something, as her back hooves were in worse shape than the fronts. Might have to give her a sedative for the next few sessions, to get her calmed down and over the fear.

That's about it. The days are getting shorter, nighttime temps are dropping into the 60s, the air is crisper and smells of fall, and we even had a rain/hail system blow through, that washed all the dust and ash from the trees. You could almost hear them sigh with contentment.

T-Shirt Tunic and Ratty Work Shirt Update...and Pumpkins!

In my last post I showed photos of the humongous man's T-shirt I bought at the Goodwill, laid out ready for cutting. And then one of the tunic sewn together, but with no bindings. That project is done...for now. After I wear it a few times, and decide if I really like it, I will decorate the front with something and maybe bead the binding. Right now it is pretty Plain Jane. And since I bought two of these HUGE T-shirts, if the first tunic turned out okay, I had planned on making another. The only change that needs to be made, is that the armhole is a little large, with just enough play to sometimes show my bra. Not a lot, but enough to show a peak of it  I might buy a fancy sports bra to wear under it, so if something does show, it will be pretty. Anyway, in its next incarnation, I will adjust the armhole opening.

This shows the little tuck I did in the binding for the V-neck.

This tunic is very loose-fitting, and the bottom edge hangs about four inches below crotch level, which is perfect for me. I decided not to bind the bottom because I didn't want to add any stiffness to it. The way it is, it drapes nicely, which is what I wanted.

Okay, moving on to the ratty work shirt. I salvaged this poor thing from my husband's box of work clothes.  By the time things get to that box, it means they are in such a beat up condition he can't wear them off the property. I started covering this shirt as a project I could work on between other projects. Something easy, that could go for months without being worked on, and that I wouldn't feel guilty about neglecting. The denim is torn and threadbare, but oh so soft. I wear this shirt when going back and forth to the garden to change the water. It keeps the sun off my arms and deflects the heat (it has been up to 113 here this summer). I also wear it in the morning if it is still a bit chilly out on the deck, which is where my husband and I have tea on the weekends. The spiral denim piece and the biding on the collar were the first things I added. The new section is a piece of an old flannel shirt which had gone from the work box clothes, to the "use as garage rags" box.

All of the stitching is no-muss, no-fuss. I even left the knots and ties showing on the outside, which I never do on anything else. More and more patches, appliqués, beads and charms will be added as time goes on. I hope to eventually cover the whole shirt.

Lastly are photos of the pumpkins in my garden. This is my first attempt at growing them, and I think I did pretty well! The variety is called Cinderella. Well of course, what else would it be called?

When they get heavy, I put little pads under their bottoms so they don't get bruised. I see lots of pumpkin soup, roasted pumpkin, baked pumpkin, and pumpkin pie in my future.

Hope you are all having a grand summer. Here it would be a lot better if we weren't surrounded by wildfires. Kinda hard to breath when it's 105, and visibility is down to half a mile because of the smoke. A nice summer rain storm would be a treat right now. One can only hope.

Word for the Week = HOT

For the last week it has been swelteringly hot. Between 95 and 110 degrees. I love summer, but trying to get anything done in that kind of heat just makes people and animals wilt. I have to do things either early in the morning, or later in the evening. However, that doesn't always work, as the day it hit 110, at 7:00 at night it was still 95. Usually, this kind of heat wave in our area doesn't last long. Maybe two weeks, on average. However "They" say this year it could last, on and off, all summer. With this being the fourth year in a row of drought, our biggest fear is fire.

The heat also affects the plants in the gardens. The squash and pumpkin leaves collapse in self defense, the basil wilts, the flowers fade out, and leaves get crispy around the edges. The potted flowers on the deck must get watered every night, or within hours they are wilting. But, some plants, like the peppers and tomatoes, love the heat and thrive.

Last evening I picked our first tomato of the season. Kinda cute, doncha think?

Even though I really liked this photo, and thought is very zen-like, it didn't show how tiny the little guy was, so I stood a wine cork next to it to show scale, and took another photo.

The plant this little fella came from is loaded with fruit, so we will be eating lots of these. I plan to put them in a big bowl on the kitchen counter, and we'll grab them to snack on as we pass by. This one was very sweet, so we are looking forward to using these in salads as well.

Other than tending the gardens and yard, and trying to keep them all from withering in the heat, I have been working on the painting Gypsy 3 - Soul Mates. Here is a photo of it after I inked the drawing and then erased out the pencil. Currently the base coats of paint are on parts of it, but I don't have a photo of that yet. I want it a bit further along before I show it again.

The other thing I have been working on, besides riding my horse - which the other day was so miserably hot I felt like a fried piece of bacon - is a new costume project. Robert and I didn't compete in the Rogue Mounted Archers International competition this year. We sweltered as ground crew. Next year we want to ride (I did the previous year), and for that we need "warrior" costumes. The norm is for everyone to go black leather, corsets, medieval, or native (which could be from any country, as riders come from all over the world). I can't ride in a corset, I have NO desire to wear black leather when it's 90 degrees plus, and I wear medieval when I do SCA stuff, so wanted something different. Then we watched the new Mad Max film, and shazam! Road warrior! Robert and I have already trolled the Goodwill for bits and pieces of stuff, and got pretty lucky. The idea of ripping, shredding, and coffee dying all of this has me very excited. Also adding bits of flotsom, and metal hardware to the clothing, is going to be way fun. It's all so different than what I am used to working on, so that is the really exciting part for me. Here are the items, other than two belts, we picked up from the Goodwill, laid out on my work table. This is the "Before" shot. Every item is between 90 and 100% cotton, so even if it gets hot, it will breath. All of this has to be comfortable when riding a horse and shooting a bow, which influences the design. A fun challenge. So, let the ripping, shredding, and dying begin!

 I will post updated photos of these pieces as I go along.

So, that's what's happening in the heatwave of Southern Oregon. Well, at least at our place.

Finished Sewing Projects, A New Painting Started, and Garden Photos

This is pretty much a "catch up" post. So I'll dive right in.

First photos are of the finished riding jerkin that I made for my husband. This is for our medieval horse gaming events, but it is nice enough to wear to SCA non-horse events as well. He hadn't had a new costume in, oh, about 30+ years so I figured he was due.

The material was given to me by a friend, and is a deep maroon, heavy damask with a leaf design. I lined the piece with brown linen from my stash of fabrics. The trim looks kinda pinkish in the photos, but isn't. It does have a lot of gold metallic threads, however. The nice clasps are from JoAnn's Craft store. Oh, and the pattern was a modified Simplicity 4059. It turned out so nice, and was so easy to make, I plan on making him another one.

Apologies for the O-ring shadows. I had to hang this from my antique French iron plant holder, and didn't, I admit, realize they were in the photos until I uploaded them onto my computer. My bad. Also, once these costumes are done, I never iron them again. He wore this one last month, which is why it's a tad wrinkly.

The next one to be finished was one I started last winter, got partly done, set it aside, then pulled it out and wore it, which made me decide I really needed to finish it.

Lately I have become sorta obsessed with bohemian kimonos (I have a whole Pinterest board dedicated to them), so when I found this light rayon blouse at the Goodwill, I fell in love with the pattern, the fact that it already had gold beads on it, and that it was all floaty and light (read that as baggy and floppy). I bought it for $3.99, even though it was an extra large. I just thought it would make a great shortish kimono/jacket. I cut it up the front, secured some of the beads that were coming off...they are still coming off and I try and catch them before I lose them...and wore it like that. But it needed something along the hemline. On Pinterest I saw examples of kimonos hemmed in fringe (my favorite), lace, beads, or left plain. I couldn't find any fringe, lace was WAY too expensive, so I opted for beads, since I already had ones that would work. The other day I sewed beads all along the hem. It worked out perfectly, and added just enough weight to the piece to make it hang nicely. And it adds that lovely clickity-click that beads make when they come in contact with, oh, chair backs, tables, etc. The only thing I haven't decided on is whether to shorten the sleeves. They hang below my wrists, which usually bugs the crap out of me, but as I was walking through the freezer section of the grocery store the other day, with this kimono over just a tank top, I was grateful to have those longer sleeves, otherwise I would have ended up with frostbite. So they may stay...for a while. After I make that decision, I will add beads to the hem of the sleeves. Also, it needs some kind of clasp for the top front. Not because I would ever wear it closed, but because it is so light and wonky, it falls of the hanger without being secured. Currently it is held in place with a clothespin. In the photos, I held it with a sewing pin, then took it out for the last shot, so you could see how it hangs, and how I wear it. It looked smashing with a black tank top and jeans.

Next in line is the preliminary drawing for another painting. This is number three in the Gypsy series, titled Soul Mates. Before I can ink this, and start the painting, I need to head to the art supply store and buy new ink pens and better brushes. Working on that first painting, with old supplies, some over 35 years old, was not fun.

Lastly are some misc. garden/deck photos I took about a week ago...before the temps hit 107, and a thunder storm came through and trashed a lot of the blooms. Look closely! Some of the blossoms have little guards posted!

This deck is where we spend a lot of time relaxing.

One last photo of the deck at dusk, fairy lights on, and Robert having his evening beer.

That's it, folks. Hope you are all enjoying your summer...or winter...depending on which side of the equator you're on.

Art And Questions

Funny how one little book filled with forty-nine creativity exercises started me questioning how and why I create, and how does what I do relate to "the big picture?" The book is The Trickster's Hat by Nick Bantock. I was having a lot of fun working on some of the exercises, and reading ahead to see what was coming up next...until I got to number thirty-one "Learning from others." It is mainly about how all artists are influenced by the work of others in some form or another. But what got me into this rare introspective mood was this quote from the book:

"Our job as creative individuals is to acknowledge, develop, and shine light on all realities, whether they be concrete or mythological—not for individual glory but because it feeds the collective unconscious and gives permission to others to widen the periphery of their vision."

Whew!

After reading that I had to ask myself if what I was doing really did widen the periphery of other people's vision? Uh...I have no idea. Even worse, I started thinking my artwork was, well, pretty insipid, the jewelry quaint, the stitching a cute hobby. Then I started asking other questions.

If a limited number of people, or no one, sees your work, how can it be helping the "collective unconscious?"
For art to be relevant does it have to be put out in the universe for others to see?
Does each work of art have to say/mean something? Can't it be just a pretty picture?
If you make figures with cute little party hats and butterfly wings, is that art irrelevant? Is it even art?
If you do art—any kind of art—simply for yourself, are you a mere dabbler, rather than a true artist?
What is a true artist?

As you see, my mind was in turmoil. I admit, showing someone my work and getting no response at all, a total "meh", is worse than someone instantly wanting to hurl rotten fruit at the piece. At least with the fruit hurler I got a reaction, even if his/her unconscious might be damaged for awhile..never mind what it would do to my ego. But how do I make my work relevant? Is that something I should even think about? Constantly asking myself if what I am working on is for the greater good, other than putting me in my happy place, would quickly smother any creative spark...and yet, here I am, asking myself that very question. 

Then I asked myself...

Is the very act of creating saying something, even if I'm not aware of it at the time?
The ideas must flow from somewhere, and mean something to me or I wouldn't bother, so simply by doing...whether painting, drawing, sewing, jewelry making, writing...it must be relevant from the very start...right? But is it relevant to the "collective unconscious?" Does it need to be? And if it isn't, am I wasting my time doing it if it has no higher purpose?

I still haven't come to grips with all of these questions. But the fact that I am spewing them out here, shows that I am very unsettled by them, which must meant I am looking for the answers.



So, after all that exhausting introspection, here is something to lighten things up a little. Photos of the iris growing in my garden.

On the white one, look closely. Can you see the hidden beastie?

Getting briefly back to the whole question of the relevancy or non-relevancy of art, I suspect all creative types ask themselves these same questions, and struggle with understanding why they do what they do. Hopefully, we don't hog-tie ourselves with so many questions and self-doubts that we quit creating. The collective unconscious would surely be diminished if that were to happen.

Pogonip...Yes it really is a word.

For the last week our place has been frozen over. Frozen pond, frozen hoses, plants buried under patches of frozen snow, frozen water buckets in the horse stalls. This time of year that's pretty par for the course, except for the frozen snow. We rarely have snow last more than a day or two, but this year it was heavy, and lingered for weeks. However, pogonip was a whole new deal. Apparently it is a Shoshone word meaning "cloud." It is caused by fine ice crystals suspended in the air, and occurs rarely during cold winter spells. Old settlers referred to it as The White Death because they thought the crystals got into your lungs and could kill you. We have had frost at our place every year, but nothing like this. It was beautiful and weird, coating everything in lethal looking ice-spikes. It made our hot-wire pasture enclosures look like barbed wire. Here are some of the photos I took around our place, showing the effects of pogonip.

Around the Garden

Here are a few pictures taken of the flowers in my large fenced garden. It is fenced so the deer won't eat everything, since the little darlings sleep on the lawn during the summer. They like the cool shade and soft grass, I guess. For the rest of the yard, I have become a bit of an expert on putting in plants that deer won't eat...well, most of the time.

Anyway, here are just a few photos that I took about two weeks ago, when everything was pretty lush. As we roll into summer, and it gets hot, the first bloom of the roses is over, and the blosoms left  or that come later, fade in the heat.

Oh, and I included a picture of our little pond turtle. He/she turned up about three years ago, and stayed. We have no idea where he came from, but we're kinda happy he likes our place.